updated 01:20 pm EST, Fri December 2, 2011

comScore October 2011 data shows iPhone up to 28%

New comScore data has shown that the iPhone 4S launch helped keep Apple's smartphone share growing in the US despite Android. Although Android grew 4.4 points to a new high of 46.3 percent in the US between July and October, the iPhone grew a point by itself to 28.1 percent. As usual, all of Android's gains were at others' expense, with the BlackBerry dropping as much as Google gained to sink to 17.2 percent.

Microsoft's combined Windows Phone and Windows Mobile share was down to 5.4 percent, and Nokia's Symbian was now just 1.6 percent.

The growth was enough to put the iPhone into double-digit share among all cellphones, at 10.8 percent. Samsung was the leader but was exactly flat, while LG, Motorola, and RIM were all losing ground to Apple.

Results here won't reflect the full impact of the iPhone 4S on the market. While Apple saw banner iPhone sales on the opening weekend, it had just two weeks of its new phone on the market. Apple had said that sales of the iPhone had dropped in the last few months before the 4S as customers waited for the new device. Data in the next month or two later will show more of the full scale of the launch as well as the effect on Android of losing Sprint as a 'safe zone' where the iPhone doesn't compete.

Sprint is a game changer

Since the iPhone 4S dropped, I've gone from being the only person out of a staff of 7 to have an iPhone (since the 2G, no less), to being one of two owning one, and 3 others plan to switch to one by next summer as their contracts are up. And not just themselves, but their spouses as well. Siri is part of the excitement of it, but most of these others are on Sprint and would not have switched carriers for any reason.